We were lucky to catch up with Angela Greene recently and have shared our conversation below.

Angela, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?

My greatest story of failure has to be my incredibly low Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores I received twice! This is extraordinary because I represented myself as a Pro Se litigant through four jurisdictions in a civil rights case against the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. I represented myself through the U.S. District Court of Northern Georgia, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court of Georgia, and the Georgia Court of Appeals. I even received a commendation from the federal judge for my outstanding work as a pro se litigant. What’s even more amazing is that I was completing my master’s degree in Administration of Justice and Security while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. I realized at the onset of my case, that I had an uncanny ability to understand legal concepts quite easily, but yet I did not qualify to attend law school. In the end, I wrote a book about this experience, Unnecessary Roughness-The Story of a Mother’s Fight for Justice, which is archived in the Mississippi Department of Archives and History along with my daughter’s civil rights project, which got them expelled from the Girl Scouts. My daughters and I received a Proclamation from the City of Atlanta for our contribution to civil rights and our community.

Angela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My career in the media including radio, and print journalism began almost 40 years ago. I have worked at five radio stations in the Atlanta market, some stations twice! I was writing for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and my college newspaper, The Georgia State Signal simultaneously. I knew from the time I was 12 years-old that I wanted to be a journalist. By the time I got to college, my interest in law began to emerge. I dabbled in the legal field, but I could never get to first base, which was law school. However, my career in radio flourished. I worked at all the major stations and I got the chance to experience a lot of exciting things in my career, but nothing was more exciting than being named a member of the Black Women in Radio Inaugural 30, the distinguished class of Black women radio professionals whose careers have been archived in the Library of Congress in 2023. I am also a member of the African American Civil Rights Caucus for the Radio Preservation Society. Presently, I am working on a personal project, which I hope will be a significant contribution to my life’s work. I’d like to believe I am respected in my circles for my professionalism and exceptional work. I am most proud of my longevity in the media, my ability to adapt and rise above challenges, and to see the big picture. Although it is completely natural for me, I appreciate my fearlessness.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think my best story of resilience is my fight on behalf of my daughters against the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta. In retrospect, that journey for justice was one of the longest and hardest I’ve ever had to make. It was quite an arduous task to take on a major organization like the Girl Scouts, but I promise I would do it again if necessary. I fought that case for two years as a pro se litigant. I learned so much about about law and myself from that experience. Ironically, I did not get ending I wanted because of the mistakes my initial attorney made, but the ending I did get was better than I could have expected. My lesson was even though an experience is difficult and may not end the way you want, does not make it any less valuable. I wouldn’t trade the hard work, sleepless mights, and the legacy I left for my daughters for anything in the world.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I am currently on a creative journey because of my passion for advocacy and justice. It is a difficult journey because the work I am doing is completely new to me. I have never done anything like this before. While I have been an advocate all of my life because I was literally born this way, this avenue for expressing it is brand new to me. For this reason, I am finding it very difficult to find the resources I need. However, I am not deterred. I am finding a way around every obstacle I meet. I am not ready to reveal to the public what this project it, which might be making it even harder, but I prefer it this way. It will get done.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @JusticeandJazz
• Facebook: Angela Greene Johnson
• Linkedin: Angela Greene-Johnson